Abstract
Background and Aims
This study aimed to compare contrast-enhanced harmonic endoscopic ultrasound (CH-EUS) with fundamental B-mode endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) for the diagnosis of left hepatic lobe metastases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Methods
In this single-center prospective study, CE-CT, EUS, and CH-EUS were performed to detect left hepatic lobe metastases in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and the detection rates were compared between EUS plus CH-EUS and the other two modalities. Subgroup comparisons of between-modality detection rate were performed in patients with only metastases of <10 mm. The number of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients whose clinical stage and treatment strategy were changed because of EUS plus CH-EUS findings was also assessed.
Results
Thirty-one patients were diagnosed with left hepatic lobe metastases. For overall detection of left hepatic lobe metastases, EUS plus CH-EUS had significantly higher accuracy (94.3%) than CE-CT (86.7%) and EUS alone (87.6%) (P = 0.021 and P = 0.020, respectively). For detection of left hepatic lobe metastases < 10 mm, EUS plus CH-EUS (93.3%) was significantly superior to CE-CT (84.4%) and EUS alone (85.6%) (P = 0.021 and P = 0.020, respectively). In five of the 11 patients in whom only CH-EUS allowed detection of hepatic metastases, the stage and/or treatment strategy of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma was changed after CH-EUS.
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that EUS plus CH-EUS has advantages over CE-CT and EUS alone with regard to the accuracy of detecting left hepatic lobe metastases, particularly small hepatic metastases and accurate staging.
Authors: Tomoya Emori, Junya Nuta, Yuki Kawaji, Takashi Tamura, Keiichi Hatamaru, Masahiro Itonaga, Yasunobu Yamashita, Reiko Ashida, Toshio Shimokawa, Masataka Koike, Akira Ikoma, Tetsuo Sonomura, Manabu Kawai, Masayuki Kitano
Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan
Read full text at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jgh.15661
